Back to Yangon

We spent three nights at Inle Lake. The first full day we travelled by boat and visited various workshops some of which feature in the previous post. Of course there was also the odd pagoda and/or monastery to visit.

On the second day we went on what was described as a light trek organised by the hotel. As well as our guide, we had a Pa-O guide who was able to tell us a lot about village life in that area. I was impressed with the number of plants which had practical or medicinal uses.

Washing

Washing 

 These bamboo chairs look like Queensland Squatters chairs and are comfortable.

 The crumbling stupas at Indein which date from the 17th and 18thC, although some maybe  even older dating back to the time of Ashoka.

The famous five Buddha images at Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda on the shore of Inle Lake. They have had so much gold leaf applied that they are now just amorphous blobs.

 Nga Hpe Kyaung Monastery - also known as Jumping Cat Monastery as the monks have trained the cats to jump through hoops.

 Some of the cats relaxing.

Instead of jumping cats we saw part of a ceremony in which boys are dressed as princes, then have their heads shaved, spend the night in the monastery and exchange their attire for that of a monk, just as the historical Buddha did.

Nyaung Pin Pha village has its own sugar mill.

Crushing the cane.

Boiling and evaporating the sugar syrup to make molasses.

A cane cutter. The cutters earn about 2500 kyats a day ($3) which is good money..

 Winnowing the rice crop.

 The road we were following had been badly washed away and when we came to a stream still running over the road, we thought we would have to take off our shoes and socks, but fortuitously a bullock cart came by and we were able to hitch a ride through the water and mud. However on the stony rough road the solid wooden wheels and no springs mean the jolting makes for an uncomfortable ride but we were very grateful.

Our Pa-O guide carrying part of our lunch.

Cooking the vegetables for our lunch. Each morning, enough rice is cooked for the whole day. All cooking is over a wood fire but there is no chimney. The smoke escapes through a window.

Traffic between villages.

 However the buffaloes are being replaced by Chinese buffalo!

The oval windows of the teak ordination hall at the Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung monastery.

Monks assembling before setting off to collect their food around the town.

 Back among high rise buidings in Yangon - food stalls outside the Bogyoke Aung San market.

Whipping up clothes in the market.

 In Yangon, the bus conductors lean out and shout out the direction/destination of their bus. 

We are back home in time for Christmas so there will be no more posts until we set off for another trip. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope it has entertained you.

Inle Lake

After flying from Mandalay to Heho (the airport for Inle Lake) we drove to Pindaya, a distance of about 46 km but it took about 2 hours. The drive is very pretty through undulating country all cultivated. We passed truck after truck of cabbages. Other crops are sesame and beans.

In Pindaya we visited Shwe U Min cave. It is a maze of caverns crammed with Buddha images. At last count there were nearly 9000 in all sizes and many different classic poses. Fortunately there was nylon matting on the floor as it was quite wet.

 According to legend seven princesses took refuge in the cave during a storm, but an evil nat (spirit) in the form of a giant spider imprisoned them there. Fortunately, a prince strolling by, heard their cries for help and killed the spider with an arrow.

A few of the Buddha images

 Repairing the road. It is a bit hard to see but they are heating drums of tar.

The road gang waiting for the tar to heat.

 No we are not on an English country estate. Built in 1909 this is now the Amara Hill resort near Kalaw. There were lovely gardens and we had an enormous room complete with fireplace. As Kalaw is at nearly 4300 ft (~1300m) it does get very cold at night.

The pastor of the Kayin (Karen) Baptist Church in Kalaw. The ceramic pots are where he makes damson wine. He gave us a very generous sample and it was very acceptable. The Pastor also runs an orphanage for 65 children and was very proud he had 15 children who had reached the last year of Myanmar Senior school.

Typical colonial era building in Kalaw.

 Waiting for the train. Although the train had been due 30 minutes earlier, noone seemed very concerned.

 Interior of our Upper Class carriage - the alternative is Ordinary Class.

 Available transport at Ngaung Shwe station.

 One of the famous leg rower fisherman on Inle Lake

Our hotel, Golden Island Cottages

Welcoming staff at GIC. Christmas decorations were much in evidence in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country.. It makes the idea of banning Christmas carols in Australian kindergartens look even sillier.

The hotel staff put on a Cultural show which was very professional. The performance of this mythical creature bore some resemblace to a Chinese Lion Dance.

Preparing thread from lotus stems in Kyaing Kan village, Inle Lake. It is a very time consuming process and requires a huge number of lotus stems.

Weaving the lotus thread and silk.

Forging a knife. It was very skillful. When the red hot metal was placed on the anvil four men took turns forging the hot metal all at lightning speed. The coordination was incredible.

 Making cheroots. The Quit campaign doesn't seem to have come to Myanmar.

Painting a traditional Shan umbrella made from mulberry bark paper.

 A display of Shan umbrellas.

 A Padaung woman using a backstrap loom

View from the restaurant where we had lunch (a very nice curry)

There was plenty of action along the canal.

More from Mandalay

We stayed in the Mandalay City Hotel. The entrance was down a narrow lane between an electronics shop and a shoe shop which did not look promising, but the lane opened out into a lovely garden at the front of the hotel. We did not need an alarm clock as it was next to one of Mandalay's 41 mosques and the muezzin woke us at 4.30  a.m. or thereabouts.

The Chinese influence is noticeable in Mandalay City, but around about it is still much as I imagine it was. Here are some photos for you to judge.

View from the 1.6 km U Bein bridge in Amarapura, a former capital. It was built almost 200 years ago with teak from an earlier Royal Palace.

 

Fisherman casting his net near the U Bein Bridge.

Monks queueing for their lunch at 11 a.m. I hope the little novice in white who was busy sweeping was able to get his share.

Using 30+ shuttles two girls sitting side by side weave incredibly fine silk into intricate patterns. It needs very good eyesight so they have to retire at 35. To weave a longyi length of 1.5m x 2m takes about 2 to 4 weeks and the piece then sells for about US$700.

 

A Mon Harp in the shape of a crocodile. Burmese harps are boat shaped. 

A large marble Buddha on Sagaing Hill near Mandalay - the rabbit is a previous incarnation of Buddha, but I thought it had quite a resemblance to a kangaroo!

 

 Young nuns at Zeyertheingi nunnery studying for University entrance examinations.

 I thought shearing was hard work, but gold beaters swing a 7 lb hammer for a 2 hour stretch. As you can imagine the gold is then gossamer thin.

Fresh vegetables in Mandalay market.

 Fancy a sparrow kebab!

 

 Enjoying a cheroot. 

 

Typical teashop - this one in Mingun

 Puppets for sale in Mingun.

Typical Myanmar house.- the bamboo thatch roof lasts only 2 or 3 years, but if good bamboo collected in the right season is used for the walls they may last 20 years.

 

 Walking the plank to go ashore in Mingun. I was very glad of the custom made handrail.

Stone sculpture in Mandalay using a beautiful white marble. The Buddhas are exported to other Buddhist countries. I found it somewhat surreal to see finely crafted bodies without faces. Apparently they wait until an actual order for a particular face materialises. 

Groups of nuns collecting in the bazaar. Nuns only collect twice a week. 

 

Mahamuni pagoda. Over the centuries devotees have stuck more than two tons of gold onto the brass image (the face is not allowed to be touched - apart from a daily ceremonial washing) and it is now quite misshapen.

 This horse puppet.was in an extraordinary workshop which was an Aladdin's cave full of all sorts of old and new items.and they were continuing to carve various wooden sculptures, make puppets and do elaborate trapunto embroideries.

  Another inhabitant of Aladdin's cave.